Milton denies private well at Tidewater plant

Milton Town Council members not only denied a Tidewater Utilities request to sink a private well at Tidewater’s new wastewater treatment plant - they also brought up a long history of beefs with the company.

“I don’t trust you, to be honest,” Mayor Ted Kanakos said to Tidewater Director of Engineering Brian Carbaugh.

At council’s Feb. 3 meeting, Carbaugh said Tidewater wanted to sink the well for use by plant employees, using about 100 gallons a day for restrooms and a shower in case of a chemical spill. He said the water supply for cleaning equipment would come from water recycled at the plant. Without a private well, Carbaugh said  the company would have to extend a water main 4,200 feet.

Carbaugh said if Tidewater had to pay to run water out to the new plant, it would cost the company $635,000. He said these costs would have an effect on user rates to the tune of an extra $43 per year per user. It would cost Tidewater $5,000 to sink a private well, with no effect on rates, Carbaugh said.

Council perceived the $43 increase in user rates as a threat from Tidewater with Mayor Ted Kanakos leading the charge.

“If we gave you everything you’re asking for, in a perfect world, how long until you request additional rates? No matter how we support you, we still get the rates. We’ll buy the company back. We can handle it. You keep asking for things. You say every penny we save you, you save us. I don’t really see that. Are you not going to ask for triple the rates in a few years?” he asked.

Carbaugh said Tidewater’s rates are vetted and approved by the state’s Public Service Commission and all requests for increases must be approved by the commission.

“When was the last time they denied you for anything?” Kanakos asked. “How much does the town lose if we make a sweetheart deal with you for free water? You’re using our resource.”

Councilman Sam Garde said, “They granted you in excess of what you asked for last time it affected Milton.”

The bitterness on this front stems back to 2011. When the town sold its wastewater plant to Tidewater in 2007, the contract specified that Tidewater could not raise rates for five years. But in 2011, before the five-year provision ended, Tidewater went before the commission and asked for a 90 percent rate hike. A legal battle ensued and in early 2012, the state sided with Tidewater after it was determined that the rate revenue at the time did not meet the operating costs for the plant. The town negotiated a settlement that saw a 111 percent rate increase to be phased in, with increases of 15 percent per year, over five years.

Eight years later, Garde was still unhappy with those events, saying the commission showed a total disregard for a written contract between Tidewater and Milton. 

Tidewater plans to build a new plant on five acres of land at Sam Lucas Road that was given to Tidewater by the town, after the town had been given 10 acres by Loblolly LLC. In addition to the plant, Tidewater will also build piping to a disposal site on the Broadkill River.

Citing a town policy not allowing private wells, council unanimously voted to deny the request for a private well. Councilman Charlie Fleetwood said allowing a private well would set a precedent that developers would easily take advantage of.

Council did approve, unanimously, a request from Tidewater to adjust the lot lines at the Sam Lucas Road site. The lot line adjustment, Carbaugh said, will allow Tidewater to build a swale for stormwater runoff at the plant.